Community Forums

RubiconTrail · 11-19-2017, 09:48 PM

I had Lifelines in my Anthem for the last year I had it...what a difference! You're gonna be very satisfied, IMO.

757driver · 11-20-2017, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jestal

I don't mind saying.....that rack of 8 LifeLine GPL-4CT's is pretty impressive. I'm going to start leaving the cargo bay door open just to show them off

Took the opportunity to wire brush, sand and repaint the battery trays and slides. Looks great (if you like looking at batteries..!) Also rebuilt the battery tie-down straps as the OEM straps were already rather tattered and nasty. Found black nylon 1 inch webbing at a Joanne fabric and got a local upholstery shop to sew the new strapping to the old hardware.

I did add the shunt for the Magnum battery monitor when we changed the batteries out. I mounted the shunt to the rear side wall of the battery compartment. This way the module is on the other side of the wall so a simple hole provides the pass-thru for the leads.

The two big ground leads to the actual batteries were routed to a chassis ground stud where the two ground wires to the inverters connected together.

I made an 18 inch 4/0 jumper cable out of welding cable and connected the load end of the shunt to the chassis ground stud. I used the two OEM battery ground cables from the shunt to the batteries. Normally this presents a problem as the Magnum shunt does not have long enough bolts to accommodate two lugs.

After talking to the techs at Magnum I found a 1/2 inch longer brass 3/8 bolt which easily accommodated the two OEM cable lugs on the battery end of the shunt. This actually allows a neater cable routing to the batteries as the cables swing from the side and tangle less with the positive cables.

The biggest change was fabricating a filler panel for the floor of the battery compartment. Entegra leaves a hole 8 inches by 20 inches which is open to the road and right behind the front tire. The battery compartment was filthy with dust, mud, leaves, etc. Filled the opening completely with a piece of 3/16 sheet polypropylene. Siliconed all joints and gaps so hopefully those new LifeLines will stay cleaner and better protected. Also improved the Entegra plastic panel with more screws, fender washers and a strip of aluminum to backup the plastic. The original floor was cracked and about to blow away as happened to someone else.

Sorry no pics. Will try to get some later but we did good to get the changeover completed as it was....... The batteries them selves are nearly an exact replacement but sorting all the details, cleaning all connection lugs, finding plastic panel, etc. took much longer than it looks on TV....

Thanks to cruzer for his how-to article in MotorHome magazine. It helped me get some of the material ready ahead of time. I simplified his routing by putting both the battery cables directly onto the shunt with the longer bolt. And, thanks to don I was able to immediately reprogram the Magnum inverter settings.

So.....all new inverters, all new house and chassis batteries......I am hoping for no further electrical anomalies!

Nice job Al.

Smitty77 · 01-25-2018, 01:06 PM

As I thought this thread on the Lifeline Float value changes was the best one I've read, I wanted to add just more 'Hmmm Info'

!

Due a mistake of the coaches fog lights remain on for over two days, I drained my 6 year old Chassis CAT 8D Maintenance Free battery down into low 10V range. About 5-6th time this battery has been abused in the last 6 years. Thought I'd saved it from careful recharging and two cycles of equalizing. And even a Load Test done at Cummins last week showed it as being in the lower 'good' range. But driving home from Cummins, about an hour, I stopped and started the coach four times for various reasons. The last time, I had to use the Boost to Start. Got it home and Specific Gravity testing revealed two weak cells, four at the bottom of the Good. So needed a new Chassis.

The short decision, which changed a few times

! Was I went with a Lifeline GPL-8DA battery for Chassis duty. Went with Tom from Trans-Specialist.Net, as he had provided me excellent advise when I got my House Lifeline X's4 L16's. And even though he sold his Country Coach and moved to a Prevost - is still a real nice gent that is a fellow RV'er. Worth a call if you are shopping for Lifeline's!!
===

Ok, so more info on Float

!

Drove to the Concorde/Lifeline warehouse in San Dimas to pick this battery up. Asked the gent that was getting for me from will call about the reason for the change. He said when did they change the Float Value recommendation? I said the Tech Document was update in February of 2017. He chuckled, and said that must be our engineer - he loves tinkering with our batteries, and probably found a reason for that change.

But wait, theirs more

! With the new Lifeline GPL-8DA battery, in the box, was a small four page Owner's Manual. Page 2 lists:

Bulk/Absorb = 14.2 - 14.4
Float = 13.2 - 13.4 (Thus, the 13.3V.)

As my coach usage is currently in the 60-70% range Shore to Shore usage, I'm going to leave my Magnum Customized Float value at 13.3V. But for that 30-40% that we Boon Dock, I'm going to change my 1200W feed thru the MidNite Classic 150 to Float at 13.4.

That's the info, and thought it was interesting the Warehouse will call gent was not aware they'd changed the Float values. (He's been around, and he remembered me from about 5 years ago when I picked up the my L16's from their former warehouse in Azusa. We'd talked about 15 minutes as the L16's were put on a separate pallet to slide into my truck. Knows some stuff about Lifeline and I enjoyed that conversation with him.

Best to all,
Smitty

saddlesore · 10-10-2018, 02:04 PM

subscribed in order to save for future reference...

Fattman-Litlboy · 10-10-2018, 03:50 PM

We have had our Lifeline batteries in our 2015 Anthem for over a year now, and they are amazing. Had to boondock last month and they lasted 11 hrs with my battery low voltage limit set at 12v for the auto gen. Reset the limit to 12.1v. It's now time for the Lifeline annual recommended "Equalization" (battery conditioning) at 15.5v for 8hrs - which is two Entegra 4hr equalization cycles. So-so happy with our battery upgrade.
Jim

lowejug · 10-10-2018, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fattman-Litlboy

We have had our Lifeline batteries in our 2015 Anthem for over a year now, and they are amazing. Had to boondock last month and they lasted 11 hrs with my battery low voltage limit set at 12v for the auto gen. Reset the limit to 12.1v. It's now time for the Lifeline annual recommended "Equalization" (battery conditioning) at 15.5v for 8hrs - which is two Entegra 4hr equalization cycles. So-so happy with our battery upgrade.
Jim

In those 11 hours how were you using your coach?
Fridge I assume and?

Fattman-Litlboy · 01-18-2019, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowejug

In those 11 hours how were you using your coach?
Fridge I assume and?

Sorry for the late response. We kept everything normally powered up. We ran the generator 3hrs before going to bed, and after a great nights sleep of 8hrs, still waited another 3hrs before AUTOGEN kicked in at 12.0v.

Dieselgem · 11-02-2019, 05:43 PM

I would like to say a big thanks to 757 Driver for assisting me in setting up my new lifeline battery"s. I used them last night and if this is a tell tale, I am impressed.

757driver · 11-03-2019, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dieselgem

I would like to say a big thanks to 757 Driver for assisting me in setting up my new lifeline battery"s. I used them last night and if this is a tell tale, I am impressed.

You are very welcome, glad to help out.

HarleySG · 11-04-2019, 02:19 PM

Hope this isn't too far off topic. Wondering if anyone with a classic have moved their batteries from the battery trays (first basement compartment behind passenger) to between the main Chassis Rails, like the newer coaches? Just curious, since I don't have a newer coach to compare the designs.

I too would like to thank you Don for all your knowledge on this subject.

Cheers!!

MRUSA14 · 11-04-2019, 03:49 PM

That would not be an easy job. I think the effort and expense would outweigh any advantages.

757driver · 11-04-2019, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleySG

Hope this isn't too far off topic. Wondering if anyone with a classic have moved their batteries from the battery trays (first basement compartment behind passenger) to between the main Chassis Rails, like the newer coaches? Just curious, since I don't have a newer coach to compare the designs.

I too would like to thank you Don for all your knowledge on this subject.

Cheers!!

Rusty,

I did a similar move but it was from the drivers side from behind the front wheel to the middle of the rear of the basement. Overall it was not too difficult. On mine all the battery and inverter cables were run in the passenger side frame rail and it was a matter of rerouting the cables to the rear of the basement. An old inverter cable was reused to power the jacks and generator up front. A side benefit to the whole move was shorter and larger inverter cables as well as reducing the weight on the front axle.

As much rewiring as possible was done ahead of time and on the day of the battery move the power was disconnected at 9:00 am and was back on by 5:00 pm.

HarleySG · 11-05-2019, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 757driver

Rusty,

I did a similar move but it was from the drivers side from behind the front wheel to the middle of the rear of the basement. Overall it was not too difficult. On mine all the battery and inverter cables were run in the passenger side frame rail and it was a matter of rerouting the cables to the rear of the basement. An old inverter cable was reused to power the jacks and generator up front. A side benefit to the whole move was shorter and larger inverter cables as well as reducing the weight on the front axle.

As much rewiring as possible was done ahead of time and on the day of the battery move the power was disconnected at 9:00 am and was back on by 5:00 pm.

Hi Don,

Thanks...once again.

I'm also trying to move some of the weight from the front to the rear, as I'm at my max on the front axle weight. I'm considering your modification, when it's time to replace my house batteries. Did you document your design? Anything you wish you had done differently? Did you leave the Magnum Energy Fuse block in it's previous location, or did you move it along with your batteries?

Cheers!

757driver · 11-05-2019, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleySG

Hi Don,

Thanks...once again.

I'm also trying to move some of the weight from the front to the rear, as I'm at my max on the front axle weight. I'm considering your modification, when it's time to replace my house batteries. Did you document your design? Anything you wish you had done differently? Did you leave the Magnum Energy Fuse block in it's previous location, or did you move it along with your batteries?

Cheers!

Rusty,

Not much for documentation, it is mostly in my head. Nothing I would do differently. The Magnum class T fuses were moved with the batteries to the new location.